Sutter Hospitals Buck Trend - Show Accreditation Improvement

SACRAMENTO, Calif., June 27, 2001 - Despite a decline in the accreditation scores of hospitals nationwide, hospitals affiliated with Sutter Health are showing improvement. The seven Sutter-affiliated hospitals that underwent JCAHO accreditation this spring received an average score of 92.3, up nearly two points from 1998.

Nationwide, hospital accreditation scores are declining. According to the May 28 issue of Modern Healthcare, the average overall evaluation score for hospitals nationwide was 90.86 in 2000, compared to 92.29 in 1997.

In 1998, Sutter Health began a program to help its not-for-profit affiliate hospitals prepare for accreditation surveys and share best practices. Systemwide scores improved that year to an average score of 90.7 compared to 87 in 1995. In addition, the number of Type I recommendations dropped dramatically, especially in the area of Environment of Care standards. Type I's declined by 52 percent. Working together, facilities have been able to learn from one another and adopt best practices to comply with JCAHO standards.